Friendships Through Dreams and Winds
by ArtemisWolfRose
Summary: Zephyr Harrison used to have it all...a family a place to live...but a particular nightmaren destroyed all of that and now that she is fifteen she reunites with an old friend to take down Wizeman and avenge her family. Rated 'cause I don't trust myself
1. Chapter 1

**OKAY!! My first NIGHTS into Dreams fic! Here we go! Starting…now!! Hey…why are you guys still reading THIS? Go read the story, go on now! Oh, wait…maybe I should stop typing…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NIGHTS into dreams or ANY of the characters other then Zack, and Zephyr. Though I wish I did own it…then the game would be available for Gamecube too! WAH!!! Okay, ranting over time to start!**

In the waking world, all was sound and peaceful…in Twin Seeds all souls were fast asleep wandering into their own little realms of peace. To them, nighttime was the best time of day…the only escape to all the hatred that they were accustomed to living with.

On the Twin Seeds Tower, a single nightmaren was perched in the spire watching over the city. A bright red gem was embedded into his chest that was sparklingin starlight. There was no moon out tonight so the streets were dark and seemed deserted from that height. NIGHTS crossed his arms boredly while watching a bird that was late to getting back to its nest. He was just about to return to the dream world when he heard a scream. But it sounded too young to be Elliot or Claris…so decided to investigate having a hunch that this had something to do with Reala.

Back on the ground a brother and sister were making their way home. The boy was about an inch taller then his sister and they both had blue eyes and light brown hair. Though these two were NOT twins because the girl was beginning to get highlights and her eyes were beginning to develop a grayish color to them, and the brother's hair was getting more blonde overall. Besides, the brother was a little over a year older than his sister, hence the height difference. Their names were Zack and Zephyr. These two were also known as the "Z Squad". Zephyr was almost 6 and Zack was 7.

Zack had finished his soccer practice after school and Zephyr didn't want to take the bus so she stayed so she could watch her older brother. I can't really tell you what Zack normally wore at the time due to the fact that he was still in his soccer uniform which was green and gold in color, but Zephyr was wearing overalls a white T-Shirt under it, purple sneakers, and a light blue bandanna around her neck acting like a scarf and she had a hair tie keeping her shoulder-length hair in a half ponytail.

Anywho…The two siblings were on their way home with Zack bouncing his soccer ball up and down while Zephyr was balancing on a wall walking beside him.

"Zephyr…you do remember last time you did that don't you?" Zack asked raising an eyebrow at his younger sister.

" What? I was already dizzy that time and the fall was…uh, five times taller than me!" The five-year-old pouted while still keeping her balance. Zack gave a sigh as he put the soccer ball away and slung his bag over his small shoulder.

After a couple hours later they concluded that they were lost, so much for being big kids…Zack took out a map of the city and laid it on the ground while Zephyr clung to his arm; truth be told, she was afraid of the dark and the sun was setting. Apparently, Zack had the map upside-down and the two ended up on the wrong side of the city. By now it was around midnight and Zephyr was getting sleepy, but Zack was wide-awake so he had to give his little sis a piggyback ride. But she was roused from sleep by Zack picking up pace. She slid off his back as he snatched her small hand.

"Big brother…what are we running from?" Zephyr asked with her eyes half closed. Zack didn't respond, he only looked back for a split second then looked forward again. Zephyr slowly looked over her shoulder to see a strange man following them. But…he didn't look human…He was wearing a red and black jester hat, had blue skin…and most of all flying!

Zephyr was terrified most by the look in his eyes, that of pure hatred and they seemed so cold and ruthless. Zack had stopped by now and Zephyr crashed into him. Crud…they had ran straight into an alley with no escape.

"Zephyr, get on my shoulders and climb into that vent to get help." He whispered to her.

Zephyr shook her head violently, "NO! I DON'T WANNA!!" She yelled with tears cracking in her voice.

" I'M THE OLDER ONE SO YOU HAVE TO DO AS I SAY!!!" Zack ordered. Zephyr had never been yelled at before, well…not like that. She obliged and climbed onto her older brother's shoulders and into a near by air vent that was released into the alleyway.

She began to crawl in but only a few feet so she could hear if anything happened but still be hidden in the shadows. All she heard was a rough voice demanding from her brother, and him refuse. Then…a little boy's scream of bloody murder, little did Zephyr know…that's exactly what happened to her entire family…

Tears streamed down her face for she knew that whomever that just killed her brother was coming after her…so she turned around, and crawled throughout the air vent. It seemed like there was no end to the vent and it was cold to the touch. Zephyr finally found a potential exit and rammed against the steel gate that kept her inside. She let out a yelp as it gave way unexpectedly and she fell hard to the ground. After peeling her face from the carpet and looked around to see that she was in her big apartment. There were boxes everywhere for they had just moved to twin seeds and still needed to unpack.

" MOMMY!! DADDY!!!" She paused for a response " AW YOU HERE!!!" Zephyr called again while searching the apartment.

She then tripped on something sticking out of her parents room…it was a foot. She pulled open the ajar door and looked inside. The girl didn't need a light to see what had happened here, here eyes went wide and pupils small as her eyes fell upon the gruesome sight. Both her father…and mother were lying in a pool of their own blood and the place was torn apart and a gun was thrown across the room. She reached down and felt a gooey, wet, sticky substance and when she slowly pulled her hand away and in the limited light, saw thick red liquid covering the tips of her fingers. She was terrified now and blindly ran away, but in her sightless haste she ran through the window as the glass shattered she fell closing her eyes. A few shards cut her face as she plummeted down to the ground. She closed her eyes waiting for impact, but it never came. She opened her eyes and looked up to see a man who looked similar to the one that was pursuing her earlier, but this one was different…He didn't have blue skin, but a regular human color and he was wearing mostly purple with a red gem in his chest, and his eyes were kind and warm, like those of a dear friend. Zephyr then looked down to see the world now below her speed by. The sight was hypnotic and she fell into a well-needed sleep and cuddled up next to the gem on her savior's chest.

Nights looked down at the small child in his arms as she slept. A small smile snuck onto his lips as he saw her mutter in her sleep. That soon faded as he was reminded why he was here in the first place. For some twisted reason, Reala had killed her family apparently in search of something. Most likely their ideya, but why a whole family? Even for Reala, that's pretty low…Nights yanked himself out of his thoughts as he came to a family's home. He tapped on their window, but seeing as they was too sound asleep to hear, the same went for every other home he tried. He had no choice but to drop her off at her own house and hopefully she wouldn't mind. He flew in through the broken window and found his way to her room. It wasn't very decorated considering it was the room of a five-year-old. On the other hand, there were a lot of boxes throughout the house so all her stuff must have been in there. There was a bed with light blue sheets and bedspread the carpet was white and there was walk in closet with a light blue door. On her bedside table was a lamp and a photo of what must have been her family. There was a little boy who looked a lot like the girl was sitting on a man's lap who must have been the father. There was a woman who was holding a little girl next to them, the mother by the looks of it.

Nights set down the girl on her bed and put the covers over her. "See you in your dreams, kid." He said before being engulfed in a red light as the way back to his home in the dream world.

Zephyr opened her eyes to see that she was neither in her home, nor in the city. But she was under a shady tree in a large valley. In the distance were floating sections of earth with windmills on them. She stood up and when she turned around something tried to hide behind the tree she was under. She ran in circles around it trying to catch whatever was trying hide from her, but finally caught it after running in the other direction. Before her was a little fairy type thing with a pointy head that had a gold ring around it, pink wings, and a little robe type thing.

"Hi there!" Zephyr said putting out her hand for the thing to shake it grabbed her hand with both of it's hands and shook it.

Zephyr decided to do some exploring and the little fairy thing followed happily. There was a lot of land and you wouldn't expect a little girl to cover all that ground in a few hours. She fell back into a sitting position after about an hour.

"Wow, this place is so big!" She exclaimed while lying down in the grass. Her mini companion floated over her with curiosity. "Hm…you know, it feels like I belong here somehow but I live in the city…I wish this wasn't all a dream…" Zephyr said while tracing cloud shapes with her finger.

" What makes you say that?" A voice asked and Zephyr shot up and looked around. No one was there.

"Who's there?" She asked as she stood up dusting off her overalls. A finger tapped her shoulder and she looked up to see the same person who saved her earlier. He surprised her causing her to tumble back and into a bush.

"Woops…"Nights muttered as he helped her out. Just as she gained balance, she was pounced on by the Pian that was following her. The nightmaren couldn't help but chuckle at how goofy those two looked.

"AHA!!" Zephyr exclaimed, as she was able to pin the Pian down, she then looked at the spectator near by. "Hi there I'm Zephyr, who are you?"

Nights bowed like a gentleman while still floating in midair, " My name is Nights, it's a pleasure to meet you Zephyr." He said pleasantly.

Zephyr curtsied, but fell out of her childlike clumsiness. They both laughed for some time and with Zephyr being…Zephyr she and Nights became good friends. At the time, they were inseparable and I mean it! Nights gave Zephyr a piggyback ride and decided to make it more fun by flying, loops and all. Instead of screaming out of fear, Zephyr screamed in delight and fun. For hours at a time they had fun, from making goofy faces at each other to having races, Nights always let Zephyr win so she wouldn't be put down. At times they even play wrestled and that always ended up getting into a tickle fight.

After long hours the two just sat down in a tree watching the dream world that lay before them. But Zephyr started to fade, literally and paniced.

"Nights!! Help!!" She screamed as she looked at her hands.

"Sorry, I can't help you…you're waking up now and I have no power to stop that." He said shaking his head sadly.

Zephyr's eyes welled up with tears, as she shook her head, "NO I don't want to wake up!!" She shouted.

Nights reached into his sleeve and pulled out something white and on a black strap. "Here." He opened his hand to reveal a choker necklace with a star-shaped white pendant.

"What is it?" Zephyr asked as she took the piece of jewelery into her hands noticing that the pendant was the size of her hand. "Is it a diamond?" She guessed.

"Hehe…you can say that. I want you to keep it, so you won't forget me or this world." Nights said as Zephyr smiled still with tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't…" She said, and took off her bandana from around her neck and tied it around Nights's arm. " So you don't for get me!" She chimed with a smile. And with that she faded completely out of sight.

Zephyr opened her eyes to find herself in her own room. She thought that what had just happened were just a dream, but she felt something in her hand, and nothing on her neck. She lifted up her hand to see the necklace that Nights gave her, and felt the cool spot on her neck to see her bandana gone, which meant that Nights really had it. She hugged the necklace to her heart, with a smile.

_Don't worry, I promise I won't forget._ Were her final thoughts before taking on the day with her new necklace and facing on her life.

**DONE!! Okay, people to get one thing straight, DON'T FLAME ME!!! This is my first NIGHTS into Dreams fic so for someone who has never read the comics and only played the game ONE TIME I think it wasn't half bad. Remember to review!!**

**PEACE OUT DUDES!!!**


	2. Escape from Nightmare Castle

**HERE'S CHAPTER TWO!!! I hope you guys liked my last chapter, and same goes for this one DON'T FLAME ME!!! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own NIGHTS into Dreams or any other characters than Zee, Alex, Andrew, and Alex and Andrew's parents also the other nightmaren who let's Zee go. That is all. Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times while reading the story, thank you!**

Well, ten years went by and Zephyr grew up from a little kid into a young woman. She was going to turn 16 in a few months, until then she was still riding a bike. She never did forget her promise to NIGHTS and vowed she never will. That necklace he gave to her never left her neck, well…only on the event she needed to polish it or something like that. The strange thing was that whenever it did break, it would repair itself overnight and she never needed to replace the strap because it seemed that it grew with her.

Zephyr opened her grayish blue eyes in response to the morning sun of Saturday. She sat up in bed tiredly as she glanced over to the calendar to see that today was the annual beach retreat that all the sophomore and up got to go to before summer break. She leapt out of bed and sprinted to the bathroom to freshen up before the big day. She came out still drying off her hair but was in her two-piece swimsuit that was navy blue with a light blue and white stripe across the center on the top piece, short swim shorts that were the same navy but had white hibiscus flowers decorating them.

While stretching, there was a knock on the door and she ran to answer. When she opened the door, she saw her two best friends Alex and Andrew, Andy for short.

" Zee! Come on! We're gonna be late if you don't hurry up!" Alex said while flailing his hands in the air, almost hitting his twin brother.

"Pipe down, as you can see she's already dressed!" Andrew said while yanking on Alex's red-tipped sandy blonde hair that still was in the bed head zone. Andy looked exactly like Alex with the exception that his hair was only slightly neater, was tipped with blue and he wore glasses instead of contacts like Alex. Although you'd think that these two would have exact opposite personalities, surprisingly they have almost exactly the same personalities.

"OW!! HEY LET GO!!" Alex yelled so loud that it rang through the hall.

"Why should I?" Andrew taunted while pulling on his brother's hair harder.

" Uh…guys…if you two are done with little spat, can we please head to the beach?" Zee, Zephyr's nickname, said standing in the doorway with her black surfboard that had blue flames on it. She had finished getting ready while the twins were fighting, right down to getting her long hair into a low ponytail like she always wore it. The boys looked at her bewildered frozen in place. " Well, come on!" She yelled as she ran down the hall with her surfboard in hand.

The trio ran outside to see a van parked out front with two surfboards on the roof. All three of them knew how to surf and they loved it. They ran to the car and Zee tied her board on and when she got in the car they drove down to the beach. While in the car Mr. Samone was bragging about how he was going to make the best BBQ of all time for his boy's first beach retreat and Mrs. Samone was telling Zephyr about some uncomfortable stuff to say in front of a bunch of guys causing Zee to sink down in the seat.

"Alright kids! We made it!" Mr. Samone said loudly out of the car window as they approached the beach. As soon as the cr stopped they all funneled out and grabbed what they needed and charged to the party. Alex and Zephyr had a race to see who could hit the waves first while Andrew stayed behind to help out his dad with getting the rest of the supplies out of the back.

At the beach there were a lot of teens and teachers about, a DJ, volleyball, and a snack bar. The rest of the day was filled with surfing, volleyball and food!! Not to mention dancing, and a live performance from a few students. And at the end of the day everybody was roasting marshmallows over small fires big enough for five people each so the entire beach was littered with crackling warm fires. There was one fiasco when Zee ate one of her marshmallows only ten seconds for it to cool off and she ran around with her mouth on fire and Alex had poured ocean water on her which put the fire out, but resulted in him getting chased around the fire by a very angry Zephyr.

It wasn't until around 10:00pm until everyone decided to go home for some sleep. Zephyr said good night to her friends before entering her place and heading off to bed. Before she turned out the lights in her room, she noticed the weirdest looking costume hanging in her closet doorway. An orange and white cape that was jagged at the edges, a striped orange jester hat, orange gloves and orange shoes. She climbed out of bed and walked over to the strange wardrobe. Zee examined the cape, it was obviously designed for a person who was very tall 'cause it was taller than herself! She wanted to see what fabric it was made of, but when she ran her hand down the cloth it moved and a muffled laugh was heard. She stood there bewildered for a few seconds, since WHEN did capes have ticklish spots? She did the same thing, only this time she actually tried to tickle the cape. It started to laugh hysterically as one shoe moved up and down stomping, the gloves looked like they were clutching a stomach, and the strangest thing was that a mouth opened to reveal a sharp set of teeth letting out a terrible cackle. She stumbled back a few feet and screamed while the possessed laundry's cackle got louder and louder.

Zephyr shot out of bed screaming "POSSESSED LAUNDRY!!" And was breathing heavily. She looked around the room to see nothing on her closet door and that it was now Sunday. She sighed out of relif as she found that her little fright was just a dream. She washed up and slipped into her regular clothes which was a white T-shirt with dark purple sleeves covered with a navy blue track jacket with a silver colored collar sleeve cuffs and stripe across the chest, black jeans with light blue flames at the bottom the silver straps that formed an X shape on each pants leg, and black boots. She tied her hair in the usual low ponytail and her bangs that dangled lazily over her forehead swished from side to side. She fixed her necklace and fixed up some breakfast. When she was done eating she decided to flip through some old scrapbooks.

She had many pictures and like most people they followed the timeline of her life. There were two pages of she and her family, like her brother's big soccer game and her father holding him up with the trophy in his hands. Another time was of when she and her mother baked a cake for father's day. There were other pages about when she met NIGHTS. Well, she didn't have a camera then so there were drawings of her and NIGHTS playing around. The drawings were of different levels of skill because she got better and better at drawing him. She skipped to when she first met the Samones. At the time she wore a loose turquoise long sleeve with a red diamond shape in the middle, a white knee-long skirt, black shoes and her hair was in half-up pigtails. There was her favorite picture of the three of them making faces at the camera, Alex was puffing out his cheeks crossing his eyes and sticking his tongue out, Andrew was just sticking his tongue out with his hands on his head so his palms were facing the camera, and Zephyr had her pinkies hooked in her mouth and was pulling while sticking her tongue out (remind you of a nightmaren we know?). She put the scrapbook down and went into town. She grabbed her bike and rode to the flower shop where she bought three bouquets. Then she headed to the cemetery to visit her family. When she arrived she found their tombstones and placed the flowers at each one of them. After she gave her respects, Zephyr peddled all over town out of boredom.

It was nearly sunset and she hadn't seen any sign of Alex or Andrew. Then she thought about when she would see Nights again, and if she did what would she say? They've been apart for ten years and there was no sign that he was even alive. She was so lost in her thoughts that she failed to see the oncoming hill. She could feel the wind pick up and her bike lean forward. Zee clutched onto the handlebars and prepared for the second ride of her life, the first was when she flew with Nights. She was flying down the steep hill at such speed the chain on her bike started to smoke. A scream of fright that escaped her lips as the teen sped down the asphalt, and to her dismay there was a wall at the end and when she hit it, Zephyr was sent flying off her bike, and right into a tree.

"Today is just not my day…" She muttered. She had gotten down and walked home because her bike was trashed. When she entered the house, Zee plopped down on her bed and started to pick out twigs from her hair. After that task she walked to her dresser but tripped and the weirdest thing happened. She fell and used her mirror for support it was as if her hand went right through it, there was a ripple and everything. Out of pure curiosity Zee stuck her hand in and there was a ripple all over again. Then she lost control of her body completely, her legs moved on their own as she stepped through the mirror. Before she knew it, she was in another room with a mirror, but that was it. The room was bleak and seemed lifeless and as Zephyr stood up she could hear voices outside.

" JACKLE!! How could you not bring the girl here?!" A loud and commanding voice boomed through the door.

Zephyr stepped through it and saw a hallway, she looked to the side to see a dead end but the other way turned.

"I'm sorry, sir. But believe me, she will be here, in fact she's just arrived." A faint voice said.

" Is that so?" The first voice tested. Then a force yanked on Zee's collar and dragged her down the hall. Soon after many turns and stretching of her shirt, she came to a HUGE double doorway.

The doors swung open as Zee approached and when the tugging stopped she was launched forward for the second time today and tumbled until she crashed into the wall.

"As promised, my lord." The other voice said, and as Zee regained her vision she could see it was the same floating heap of clothing as in her dream.

" AHHH!!! IT'S THE POSSESSED LAUNDRY!!!" She screamed while sitting upright and pointing to the creature before her. He cringed at the name, which gave her much satisfaction.

" So, you are the one that Reala failed to do away with. I'm surprised to see that you've avoided him for a decade." A being that looked slightly similar to the possessed laundry but had an actual head, a blue cape, six hands each with an eye in it, and a helmet with a whole mess of spikes protruding from it. Oh, and he was like twenty times bigger.

Zephyr just sat there dumbfounded with a confused look on her face. She hadn't been avoiding anyone, let alone for ten years… and who the heck was Reala? As Zee was pondering this the doors swung open as another neck less, wrist less being walked into the room. But, this one had a different hat, bluish skin, had a red vest and three diamonds down his chest.

"Ah, Reala. It appears that Jackle has accomplished what you failed to do ten years ago more or less." The giant boomed as Reala, who Zee now knew the name of, looked up in astonishment. Then he glared at Jackle (aka: the possessed laundry).

That's when little red flag…no that's not right…a blaring alarm in Zee's head went off. She could definitely recognize those ice-blue eyes anywhere. They were the last things that her brother saw, let alone her entire family!

"YOU!!!" She yelled while getting up from the sitting position that she was in.

"Do I know you?" Reala asked with a scowl.

" I'm surprised you forgot! Let me refresh your memory, I'm the little sister of the seven-year-old you killed ten years ago! The same girl's life who you ruined by destroying everything she ever loved!!" Zee yelled at the top of her lungs tears tearing at her eyes as those painful memories relived themselves in her mind.

Reala smirked at the girl's obvious pain by her forced back tears. He did remember who she was; he just wanted to see her cry like she did so many years ago. "Oh, that's right. The family said to have a red ideya amongst them. I was going on rumor that a member of your immediate family had a red ideya- the one we need-and I didn't want them to know about me so I did away with them all. Except for you of coarse." He said on a low and sadistic voice, which really creeped Zee out.

Out of nowhere she bit her thumb at the trio (A/N: And if you don't know what that means ask someone other than me). Reala was ticked, Jackle was caught off-guard, and the giant guy was unfazed…crud. No sooner than when she appeared in this world, there was an unbearable pain being forced throughout Zephyr's body. Then…all went pitch black and she could feel her head and the rest of her body hit the hard ground head-on. The last thing that was seen was Reala having great satisfaction in his eyes.

Nights was racing through the sky towards Nightmare Castle. He didn't know why, but he could sense something was wrong somehow…he just hoped that if someone was in trouble he wasn't too late. Soon, the red ideya embedded in his chest began to glow as if it were an alarm. Earlier, he was thinking about Zephyr and what she would say if they ever met again. The Ideya he had given her was something that she would most likely cherish for the rest of her life. But now, something big was up and he couldn't let his mind wander.

Zee woke up feeling something ice-cold on her wrists and great strain on her arms. She looked up to see that she was hanging off of a wall by her wrists and MAN did it hurt. All that she could do for the next few hours was do some pull-ups, try to sleep and count how many rats there were. After much boredom she actually made attempts to escape but all failed, from trying to kick the shackles off from trying to speak rat and ask them to find the keys. After all her attempts she miraculously fell asleep but someone roused her from her slumber when they opened the door. It was another creature like the others that she had encountered there that flew in and they had the keys. That's when Zee got an idea, she'll never do it again, but it might work.

"OW!!!" She yelped. Whoever was in the room with her was startled and spun around to face her. She noted that he wasn't very experienced by the way he yelped.

"Uh…Pipe down!" He stammered. Zee could tell that he was nervous and didn't have much self-esteem.

"Oh, I'm sorry…it's just that…these shackles are so tight, I think my wrists are going raw!" She complained in a slightly flirty tone. Zee HATED when she had to flirt with someone, at least it got you out of sitting on the window seat on the bus.

"Sorry, Reala said not to let you down for any circumstances!" He said trying to act firm. But, he melted like butter on a hot plate when he received full blow of Zephyr's puppy pout. "Alright. Fine…" He scowled and let the teen down.

A grin was plastered onto her face as she quickly sprinted past the nightmaren, knocking him out on the way to the long corridor. Her legs were getting tired at a steady pace, but luckily she came to a door that was slightly ajar. She peaked inside to see Jackle put something down and he started to walk to the door. Zee started to panic and did the only thing she could do…HIDE!!! As the door slowly started to creak open she pressed her back against the wall where the door might hit. Luckily for her, Jackle didn't open it all the way so her nose was safe.

When Jackle was out of sight and earshot, she slipped into his room to find some way of escape. There were a lot of books, empty and full vials, multiple dried plants lying around, and the smell of herbs. Then she saw a deck of some BIG cards lying on the windowsill, just big enough for her to ride. Zee snatched one being careful not to mess any of the others up and climbed onto the windowsill.

She hadn't realized how far up she was from the ground and being afraid of heights didn't help much. Then she noticed jewel on her necklace start to glow and was reminded of NIGHTS. If there was that one guy, Reala, here and if he looked a little like NIGHTS…then that means that her friend is somewhere in this realm! Just not in the castle. Before anymore thought she lost her balance and out of the window. She used the card as a parachute and held on for dear life. As the wind picked up, she was lifted into the air higher and higher, but strangely she had enough air to breathe properly. After sometime she emerged from the clouds and came to see that she was over the same place where she first met NIGHTS. The windmills looked tiny from that height so she looked back up at the ace card she was holding on to. At the worst of times she began to feel increasingly weak and her mind started to get hazed. Figures that they would drug her to make escaping harder…Her mental rant was silenced when her grip on the card slipped and she plummeted to the ground.

_NIGHTS….._ Was her last thought before passing out.

NIGHTS stopped immediately as if something had just snatched him in midair. He looked around as a small voice came to his mind, whispering his name. Then, as if on instinct, he whirred around and headed for Spring Valley, hoping for the best.

**WHEW!! That took a while to finish. PLEASE REVIEW!!!! XD**

**PEACE OUT DUDES!!!**


	3. Reunion

**WHOOT!!!! MY DAD GOT ME A SEGA SATURN AND THE NIGHTS INTO DREAMS GAME!!! I AM SOOOOO HAPPY!! Anyhow…here's my third chapter and I own only Zephyr. This is the moment you have long awaited for!!!! NIGHTS and Zephyr finally seeing each other after ten whole years!! Now…. ON WITH THE SHOW!!!!**

Zephyr awoke to a comforting breeze and grass tickling her soft face…that and something poking her arm. She opened her eye slowly to see that she was under the same tree that she did her last visit to the Dream World, at least that's what it looked like. She rolled onto her side to see a little Nightopian standing close by with curious eyes and a tilted pointy-head. Zee looked around and could see about two more little Nightopians. She sat up stretching and yawning tiredly.

"Well, I guess you little guys helped me out huh?" She asked as the fairy like creatures nodded with proud smiles on their faces. " Thanks for the assist! Now, I've got a friend to find, see ya!" She said with salute type wave good-bye and walked off. She heard a rustling behind her and when she stopped her leg turned into a traffic jam. The teen looked down to see that the Pians followed her.

"Listen, I can't take you guys with me. So stay." She said like an owner would a dog and started to back away slowly. Satisfied with their obedience she turned back around and started to walk. After about three seconds she felt something tug at her jacket. She sighed and bent back so far she could see the Nightopians only upside down. One walked to where its friends were while Zephyr flopped onto her stomach.

The Nightopians beamed at her in hopes of letting them come along. This time it was Zephyr's turn to cave, but not without a plan.

" Hmm…I'll make you a deal, if you help me find NiGHTS I'll let you come along. Deal?" She said with her face resting on her hand. The Nightopians nodded. " Good! Head 'em up, move 'em out!" She said getting up with the Nightopians floating close by.

She was much more mesmerized by the scenery now than she did so long ago. She was old enough to appreciate more in nature, and this was the best there was! Long hours were spent walking around Spring Valley and Zephyr took a rest by lounging on a tree limb with her back propped up on the trunk. The Nightopians accompanying her bobbed up to the branch close by and hummed merrily. Zee found her foot tapping lightly in the air and a small smile creeping onto her lips. She knew that eventually she might get very annoyed by this, so might as well enjoy it while she can.

She didn't know why, but the more she saw of this place the more determined she was to find NiGHTS. Many questions were swirling about her head like an endless sea just waiting for its depths to be ventured into. What she did know was that the only people who knew about her true past were NiGHTS, that mime wannabe Reala, the spiky-headed-oversized-towel Wizeman, the possessed laundry Jackle, and of coarse herself. She had only told Alex and Andy that her parents died in a car crash; it was the only thing that popped into her ten-year-old mind.

She swung her hand back just to feel a hole in the bark of the tree. Zee swung down upside-down with her legs still latched on the branch she was on. Something shiny was glinting in the small light that the hole had to offer caught Zephyr's eye. She reached in with the curiosity of a cat and felt around. Then she wrapped her fingers around what felt like a thin metal pole and yanked. Apparently it wasn't as lodged in as she thought and was sent flying back and off the tree. She let out a small yelp as her head made best friends with the ground.

The Nightopians descended from the leafy branch to see if their fallen friend was all right. Zephyr shot up with a blank expression until she looked down to see that in her hand was a thin flute that didn't have keys like most, but holes. She gave a triumphant laugh and held the flute high above her head.

"Victory!" She exclaimed and calmed a tad to place the flute to her lips and begin playing. It wasn't the song that the Pians were humming earlier, but a lullaby that her mother would sing to her every night before she went to sleep. The Nightopians gathered around her and smiled to the music and began humming. Just at the sound of the lullaby made Zephyr increasingly drowsy and she fell asleep with her back propped up against the tree.

NiGHTS was hovering above Spring Valley when he heard music, from his flute! But then again…there was no reason to be mad at whoever found it, because they were very good at it. He tried to follow the sound, but it stopped and he left on the search once again. At least he had a good lead…hopefully.

Zephyr woke up after a nice nap a few hours later to see the two of the Nightopians curled up next to her and one was nestled like a cat in her lap. She carefully placed the Pian down and silently walked off. Unfortunately, she had to find NiGHTS on her own. She really did enjoy the company of the cute little dream dwellers; she just wanted to find NiGHTS on her own. Some called her a lone wolf for her stubbornness, but she called it lone determination. She liked to be on her own anyway, it gave her some time to think and sort out her thoughts.

_I hope I find NIGHTS somewhere out here…I mean, it'd be a waste to escape that castle to just walk around for ages…Man…the Possessed Laundry is gonna be SO ticked when he finds out I took a card…_She thought as her roamed the vast dreamscape searching for her friend.

Long hours passed of flying around in what seemed like endless circles, but that's when NIGHTS was literally hit out of the sky by a clawed fist belonging to none other than Reala.

" I don't have time for this, Reala!" NiGHTS shouted to the pale nightmaren.

"I know you better than that, NiGHTS. I'm on a search of my own, a prisoner escaped and Wizeman's going to have my head if I don't capture her. I'm sure you know the one." Reala snarled. NiGHTS was shocked at that. No, he didn't know who it was but if Reala was after her, she had to be of some importance to Wizeman. If there was anything that Reala was ready for, was a fight to the bitter death with NiGHTS.

Zephyr was walking across the vast fields of the emerald green hills of Spring Valley. Unfortunately, she was too spaced out to see a gray cloud of Nightmaren Minions about to attack her in her vulnerable state of mind. The sudden small shadows that were cast over her and dotted her surroundings caught her attention, though. She burst into a sprint for who knows where, as long as it was safe. Wait…what in the world was she doing? She was Zephyr Harrison, one of the few in her school who would actually stand their ground against anything, no matter what the odds.

She made a sharp turn heading for a tall tree and without slowing snapped off a limp branch and turned to face the army of strange creatures heading straight for her. She bent her knees, and took aim at each being that was speeding toward her. A hollow was flying up on her left…SLAM! There was now a pink swirling ball heading to the horizon. Next pitcher was a little Snip…KLUNK! Square in the needle nose and off into the clouds. Now, was a Cuttle that was thrashing those weird spike things for her head…POW! It was sent back into the mass of minions and they were scattered around the plain.

"HA!! Don't you idiots know not to mess with the west wind?" She said with a cocky tone. She had a point there her name meant the west wind after the Greek god Zephyros who was the god of the west wind. She loved to poke fun at that little detail. But, her little celebration was cut short by the sight of two thin figures diving, twisting, charging and colliding in the sky. She ran up to get a better look but they beings were hidden in the clouds and the blinding sun was burning her eyes. She could only see two silhouettes clashing against the sun.

NiGHTS was the first to receive a blow and he was sent soaring back but caught himself just in time to see Reala lash out a kick, which he blocked I might add. NiGHTS then elbowed Reala in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. The fight seemed to go on for hours, hit for hit. NiGHTS would hit Reala, Reala would hit NiGHTS. But then there was a scream and both looked down to see a brown haired teenage girl being chased by Gillwing. Wizeman was really pulling out all the stops on this one. NiGHTS immediately knew whom the dreamer was and was frozen in place. Reala took this as a chance to tackle NiGHTS into one of the floating sections of earth and follow them.

Zephyr was bolting down the hills while avoiding the giant eel/dragon THING chasing after her. And to make things worse, Reala came out of nowhere and was now in the chase, too!! Then, a Shleep popped up right in front of her and puffed out this yellow pollen gas stuff that caused Zephyr to cough violently. She soon began to feel drowsy and her vision blurred, soon all was black and she could feel her body get yanked to the ground. Unless you were born in the dream world, the rules of gravity still applied.

NiGHTS was able to pry himself from the rock just in time to see Zephyr collapse under the influence of being hit by a Shleep. He raced down to defend her and when he did, Gillwing was sent flying back which blew off a chunk of his tail. NiGHTS was now officially angry, which was really out of character for him. It was just that he had just seen Zephyr after ten tears and he didn't plan on having to get used to seeing her under Wizeman's control. Or worse…without a dream… Reala charged him, but NiGHTS dodged and punched him in the back. Gillwing was about to chomp him down to size but NiGHTS paralooped and punched the dragon in the jaw again taking another section of his tail. Reala saw that it was no use to challenge NiGHTS when he was THIS determined, he was just too protective at the moment. He and GillWing headed back to Nightmare, much to both of their disappointment.

NiGHTS floated in place for a moment until he was sure that Reala and GillWing were truly gone…for now. He landed and walked over to the sleeping Zephyr and picked her up bridal style and flew off somewhere so she could rest without worrying about Reala coming back. He set her down under a shady tree and sat by her until she woke up.

Zephyr slowly regained her consciousness and slowly came back to her senses and opened her eyes to see that she was under a shady tree again.

" 'Bout time you woke up." She heard a familiar voice chime. She looked to her side to see a creature wearing a purple hat, and friendly warm eyes. The same eyes that she saw ten years ago that helped her heal from the tragedy that once faced her.

"NiGHTS!!" She yelled as she leapt on the nightmaren and wrapped her arms around the scarf like garment that rested on his shoulders.

" I missed you so much!" She said, tears cracking her voice. She sobbed out of happiness on NiGHTS's shoulder as he hugged her back.

" I missed you too Zephyr." He replied. The two remained like that for what seemed like an eternity until Zephyr calmed and her sobs subsided into small gasps. She loosened her grip on the nightmaren and pulled away wiping away the tears that remained on her face. NiGHTS got up and helped Zephyr to her feet.

" I told you I wouldn't forget!" She said with a smile while wagging a slim finger.

NiGHTS let out a small chuckle and he shook his head. No matter how many decades, Zephyr was still the same old Zephyr he remembered.

"Hey, Zephyr, how about we take a lap, for old times sake?" NiGHTS suggested, but before she could respond Zephyr was swept off her feet and was holding onto NiGHTS out of instinct.

She missed the feeling of just soaring and having the wind whip around her face and just being close to a friend. NiGHTS then dropped Zephyr for about two seconds and caught her by the hands so she could let he feet dangle more freely. He then scooped her back into his arms and paralooped causing the teenager to laugh out of shock and delight. Zephyr looked to beyond the horizon and gasped at the breathtaking view. The cotton clouds were just drifting lazily along a beautiful Caribbean blue sky.

" I take it you like the view." NiGHTS shouted over the wind. Zephyr merely nodded. After a few more hours of flying the duo landed on one of the floating sections of earth and Zephyr sat herself on the edge letting her feet swing freely over the edge. NiGHTS placed his hand on the top of her head and ruffled her hair a little before sitting down himself.

There was a small chirping sound just behind the massive windmill and the two looked to see the three Nightopians that had followed Zephyr in the first place appear. They slowly came into view and bobbed over tackling Zephyr in the process. NiGHTS let out a loud laugh and ended up clutching his stomach for fear it would burst into a thousand little pieces from laughing so hard. Then the third one came and yanked on NiGHTS's hat causing him to get jolted onto his back forcing Zephyr into a laughing fit as well.

All seemed to be…so perfect. Zephyr had finally reunited with her long lost friend NiGHTS and made a few new ones along the way. But, she also made some fierce enemies at the same time. Well, for now the world didn't matter, she had just been given the reward for waiting those many years…just being able to see NiGHTS again. It was the only thing she ever wished for on her birthday and Christmas. Yes, this was the greatest feeling in her entire life at the most wonderful moment of her life.

**I hoped you liked it! This took me a while to write, so be nice! Personally, I think it was cute and I was almost felt like crying when I proofread it! Well, R&R! PEACE OUT DUDES!!!**


	4. The Breakdown

**Okay, peoples!! I dunno what else to say, I've had to work on my other stories, school's been a huge weight on my shoulders, and I've had writers block! That explains the lateness of this chappie! Remember to review, now! ENJOY!!!**

NiGHTS and Zephyr were now just chatting on how their lives have been for the past ten years. NiGHTS said that nothing was really new other than the new dreams that have been created and those that have been forgotten. Zephyr had told NiGHTS all about her life in the waking and about Alex and Andy. They both have had a relatively normal decade, well…. it depends on who sees what as normal. Soon the two was resting on each other, Zephyr had her head on NiGHTS's shoulder and his head was on hers. The Nightopians were sleeping in their laps.

Being in the Dream World, Zephyr didn't have a dream so the rest was relatively boring. She woke up with NiGHTS still asleep; she then got a smirk and quietly slipped away from him. Right then, there was no telling what the teen had in her mind, but it seemed very impish so there had to be something going on in her head. Just the look of sheer glee and her snickering at her own plan spelled BAD NEWS! She climbed up into and the rustling of leaves roused the Pians and they looked up to see what was going on. She motioned them to stay quiet and they obeyed without a chirp.

Zephyr gently yanked off a nice long leaf and hung down from the branch and was careful not to let her hair interfere. Well, all she was doing was an experiment to see if NiGHTS actually HAD a body other than his head and hands. What? Knowing a guy for ten years would get you wondering about stuff like that. She dropped the leaf down that scarf thing on NiGHTS's "shoulders". It just…dropped and faded into black…Unfortunately, this apparently woke him up and well, lets just say that he was flying around, upside-down, bobbing and it looked very hysterical. This image was so funny, Zephyr was laughing her head off and was clutching her stomach to keep her sides from splitting. He was paralooping, and diving just to get what was in him, out.

Finally, after around ten minutes of laughing and flying, NiGHTS finally got the leaf out and it drifted to the ground. NiGHTS just stared at it for a few moments, dumbfounded that such a little thing could cause such a big mess…He looked up at Zephyr whose laughing came to an abrupt halt as soon as her gaze met his. He smiled a mischievous little grin and Zephyr just knew that nothing good could come from a look like that. She swung her legs over the tree she was hanging from and as soon as she landed, scrambled to make a run for it.

Now, as fast as she was Zephyr was no match for NiGHTS when he was flying. So, the only thing left for her to do was to hide. Except, the only hiding place that could be seen was the windmills on the floating sections of earth that Zephyr would never be able to reach in her life. So, she just kept on running for dear life.

It was a few minutes before she came to a stop, hands on her knees panting. She fell flat on her back and just laid there…watching the clouds roll on by lazily. She closed her blue eyes for but a few seconds and when she opened them NiGHTS was standing over her with his arms crossed and foot tapping, but he was smiling. That was not good. Zephyr was about to get up and run, but NiGHTS was too fast for her, grabbing her by the wrists and flying into the air. The movement was so unexpected, Zephyr yelped as he to them higher and higher.

"Uh…N-NiGHTS? This is just a j-joke, right?" Zephyr asked nervously. The Nightmaren seemed to ponder this and grinned.

" Dunno, you tell me." He said and with that he dropped Zephyr from the dizzying height. Zephyr was left screaming down to the ground.

" THIS IS GONNA HURT!!" She screamed. Seconds before she hit the ground something grabbed her foot and her face was left inches away from the ground.

NiGHTS was still holding on to Zephyr's foot, just smiling and floating. He began to laugh at his little trick. Zephyr however was not so amused. She didn't like the fact that she was tricked into thinking she was going to die, especially by her friend who was supposed to be the good guy here! NiGHTS set Zephyr down and wiped a tear from his eye from laughing so much.

When she regained her composure, Zephyr was ticked, REALLY ticked. When NiGHTS wasn't looking, she tackled him to the ground. Unlike most people when they were tricked like that, instead of beating the pulp out of NiGHTS, she tickled him until he cried. It was hard to find a Nightmaren's ticklish spot, but once you have it's the perfect weapon. Zephyr finally accomplished her task and got off of NiGHTS waiting for him to get up. Seeing as he doesn't have any actual lungs, he didn't need to catch his breath.

"Well, that was fun. Let's go." He said, standing up and about to fly off. He noticed that Zephyr wasn't following. "Hey, Zephyr! If you keep us waiting you'll…." He trailed off when he turned around and saw Zephyr with her mouth covered and in the paws of Clawz, the over-sized Nightmare cat.

" I hate it when I'm right." NiGHTS sighed under his breath. And turned his attention to Clawz. Zephyr was attempting to struggle free, but the more she moved, the more the cat squeezed her. NiGHTS couldn't understand, why was Wiseman after Zephyr? She didn't have a red ideya, is she did NiGHTS would have known be now.

Zephyr had managed to get her mouth free and took a large gasp of air. " NiGHTS! What is this thing?!" She yelled in a panic. Clawz immediately covered her mouth again.

" That's Clawz, one of Wiseman's henchmen." NiGHTS explained. He saw a look of confusion on her face; he forgot to tell her about Wiseman! " I'll explain later, for now, just hold tight!" He ordered.

Zephyr didn't have much choice, she was being held captive by a giant cat with deadly beyond deadly claws. As NiGHTS charged it, it jumped out of the way, dragging Zephyr along for the ride. The fight continued like this, making Zephyr a little nauseous. NiGHTS got an idea and was about to paraloop, scaring Clawz into dropping Zephyr and pouncing off. NiGHTS flew to Zephyr's aid, catching her just in time.

" You're an idiot, you know that?" She said clinging on to NiGHTS's sleeve, not wanting another one of his jokes to take place.

" Oh, really? I didn't drop a leaf down my collar and get us into this mess!" NiGHTS argued back while setting Zephyr down in the ground.

" True, but I'm curious. Speaking of which, who the hell is Wiseman?" She persisted. NiGHTS was really hoping she had forgotten, but there was getting out now.

" Fine. Sit." He ordered Zephyr, and she obliged. " A long time ago, Wiseman took order of Nightmare, but after some time, he wanted more. He grew so power-hungry, he began to overrule Nightopia, and that was enough, but not for long. He realized what power dreamers had and their impact on this world, and I believe he was afraid of what might happen if they tried to take his power, which isn't possible without help of coarse. Wiseman then learned of the ideya, and knew that they were the key to controlling the waking world. But, the one that he can't take by force is the red ideya of courage. But, he still wanted the other ideya, so he created the other Nightmaren. Reala and I are the only first level Nightmaren ever created. I was the only one who realized that Wiseman was doing a truly terrible deed, and therefore rebelled. But, I was captured and imprisoned in Wiseman's worst torture chamber, the Ideya Palace, and until a year ago, stayed there for what felt like centuries." NiGHTS concluded. Zephyr just sat there, her eyes wide, this was the first time she saw NiGHTS even slightly downcast.

Zephyr smiled and told him he was right to rebel. When he asked why she though that she simply said with a grin "'Cause rebels are fun!". No matter how many years, NiGHTS may never figure her out completely. He scooped her up in his arms and flew off to a different dreamscape. She asked what was going on, but NiGHTS remained silent wanting it to be a surprise.

They finally landed next to a beautiful lake scene with willow trees, lush green grass, and a few flowers here and there. And the water was the cleanest that she had ever seen! It took her a few seconds to soak it all in and realize…this was her dream world. She thought it up a few years back and never forgot about it. There was even the one tree that loomed over the lake with a swing tied onto one of the branches.

" You like it?" NiGHTS had snuck up behind her while she wasn't paying attention and she jumped slightly.

" Are you kidding? It's just like my dreams!" She said while turning to face her friend. He had a proud smile plastered onto his face, simply ecstatic to see Zephyr so happy. It was obvious that she hadn't visited in a while, he came here as often as he could to find her. By the time NiGHTS finished his thoughts, Zephyr was already on her hands and knees on the edge of the lake. For once she had her jacket off showing her white T-shirt with the purple sleeves, her jacket was tied around her waist. NiGHTS floated over and pered into the lake with her, but with a saddened look on his face.

Zephyr had noticed the unnatural nature of her friend and turned her head to see that was wrong. When she stood up, NiGHTS didn't seem to notice, not even when she walked over.

" Hey, NiGHTS…you okay?" She asked, waving a hand up and down in front of the 'Maren's face. He jolted up, looking at her as if he had just gotten ice water dumped on his head. " It's not like you to frown, it just looks wrong on you." Zephyr said in a warm tone. She may have been crazy and loud at times, but there was no stopping her from comforting a friend.

When NiGHTS didn't answer Zephyr figured that he just wanted some time alone. She turned to walk away, she could feel something grab her wrist and pull her in the opposite direction. NiGHTS pulled her into a hug without saying a word. Zephyr was about to ask what was up, she felt something warm and wet drop onto her shoulder. It then hit her…NiGHTS was crying. That was one reason why he didn't speak when she asked if everything was alright, his voice would've cracked.

His crying became slightly more violent when his shoulders started to shake and his breathing became more audible. Within a moment, Zephyr slowly wrapped her arms around him in comfort.

_It must be hard…your entire race and species being out to get you and all…_She thought. _I guess even great Nightmaren rebels have to let go sometimes. I know I do._ She thought again.

A few minutes had passed and NiGHTS calmed down and pulled away. He still had a couple tears on his cheeks, but otherwise he was okay. Zephyr's shoulder was soaked, but she didn't mind one bit. As long as NiGHTS wasn't crying anymore, she was just peachy. He floated over to the lake and began to wash the remaining tears off his face. And you guys should know Zephyr, she just couldn't pass up a chance like this. She again tackle NiGHTS, but into the water this time. When Zephyr opened her eyes, her arms were still around NiGHTS, but something was way different. NiGHTS had a fish tail instead of legs. Zephyr would've asked, but she was underwater and was running out of air.

Her head bursted out of the water and she was gasping for breath. NiGHTS came up less violently, but was smiling again.

" Dude! That tail is cool!" Zephyr procloaimed.

" Really? Most people think it's freaky." NiGHTS said with an eyebrow raised.

" Then they're the freaks! Glad to see you smiling, by the way." Zephyr said with her own silly grin.

" Thanks, for being there and all. Now just one thing left to do…" He said still smiling. Zephyr was just about to ask why, but instead got a huge amount of water splashed in her face. She got a mischievous grin and splashed back. This continued for a long time never seeming to stop.

Back in Nightmare…a figure was looking into an eye at the two free spirits having fun.

" NiGHTS…I believe that I've finally found your weakness…" The colossal being murmured and started laughing maniacally, rattling all of his realm. The image in the eyeball was closed in on Zephyr, who was unknowing to the danger…

**3….2…1…AWWWWWWW! HOW SWEET!! It's always nice to have a friend there for you until the end. But, what could Wiseman the Wicked be planning? You'll all find out soon enough!! Remember to review!**

**PEACE OUT!!**


	5. Untitled

**YAYS!! NEW CHAPPIE!! Well, here we go! Don't have anything else to say, so…YEAH!**

**NiGHTS: Uh, how about "Sorry it took so long folks!" eh?**

**Oh, YEAH WHAT HE SAID!! **

Zephyr was now out of the water and wringing her long hair out while NiGHTS was sitting in mid-air, a little impatiently at that.

"Come on! We have to go and find the ideya!" He said flying over and around Zephyr, who was getting a little tired of him asking that and stopped wringing and put her hands on her hips.

"Well, tough teddy bears!" She said while grabbing his ankle causing him to fall to the ground. He stood up dusting himself off. Zephyr walked up to him, nudging his arm. "I'm just kidding! I'm finished anyways!" She said playfully, but she noticed that he was taller by a few inches. "Great…. now I feel small…." She said pouting and NiGHTS put his hand in her head,

"Yeah, well, not ALL humans can be as tall as Nightmaren." He scoffed with a smirk. Zephyr looked at him with annoyance.

"Yeah….and not all of us have no body whatsoever…" She mumbled, deserving a hit upside the head. "What was that for?!" She yelled. NiGHTS shrugged, but looked around as if on red alert.

Zephyr was confused, she didn't feel or see anything, so why was NiGHTS being paranoid? He pushed her out of the way of something as it whizzed by, missing them by no less than an inch. NiGHTS floated up when the possessed laundry himself came into view.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Well, well, well! If it isn't the traitor himself, not to mention a card thief!" Jackle shouted as NiGHTS crossed his arms with a smirk.

Zephyr had her head tilted to the side. "Now, HOW THE HELL COULD YOU TELL?" She yelled. Jackle twiddled his thumbs and began to stutter, but Zephyr interrupted him, "I mean, what low-life geek counts his cards? You have ten decks!! GET OVER IT!!" She yelled again. She turned to NiGHTS gesturing if he wanted a go.

"No, No. I can see you've got it handled." He said waving a hand leisurly. Zephyr shrugged and was about to continue ranting but Jackle was gone. She looked around searching both the sky and ground.

NiGHTS cried out in pain and Zephyr ran over to him immediately. "NiGHTS! What happened?" She asked as NiGHTS clutched his arm. He removed his hand to show his sleeve had been ripped and some sparkles were trickling out of the rip. He put his hand back into place. Zephyr saw a card on the ground on its corner and some of the sparkles trailed after it. A loud, annoying cackle rang out and Jackle was looked like he was about to explode in laughter.

Zephyr stood up and clenched her fists, still looking at the ground. "You'll pay for that…" She muttered and looked up at Jackle who froze in mid laughing fit..

"And WHO is going to enforce that? You?" He taunted, but his expression soon changed when he saw how angry and serious Zephyr seemed. She took off the straps on her legs and combined them so they looked like one big strap. She swung it at Jackle and it latched onto his foot. But, he had another card and sliced the strap. Zephyr fell backwards and landed on her rear. With another card thrown, Jackle was sure he'd get her. His orders were simply to make sure NiGHTS was permanently separated from the girl, no one ever said to keep her alive or not.

Zephyr squeezed her eyes shut but heard a voice, "Zephyr! You HAVE to wake up!" NiGHTS called out. Zephyr shook her head, not wanting to, but it was too late. She felt her mind slowly being drawn away from the world of dreams to the real world. She slowly fluttered her eyes open and found that she was on the floor in front of her mirror. She propped herself up on her elbows and saw that there was a few drops of blood there and saw that her shoulder had been cut, her silver straps were gone.

"So…it was real…." She muttered under her breath. She got up and washed off for the day. Apparently it was four in the morning on Tuesday….and she wasn't even tired at all. She decided to take a walk so she got dressed and walked out with hands in her pockets.

Zephyr wandered around for a while and stopped when she came up to Twinseeds Tower. She just gazed up at it for what seemed like hours and she just wanted to stay in that spot for a while…..but she was getting cold and didn't want to catch a cold. On the way back to her apartment her mind kept on wandering when she'd see NiGHTS next. She didn't know if she could handle another ten years or so of not knowing where he was or it he was around or not. She halted on the spot when a thought crossed her mind: What if NiGHTS didn't beat Jackle when she left? Zephyr put a hand to her mouth and shook her head. Of coarse NiGHTS beat him! NiGHTS is a first-level nightmaren and Jackle seemed simply too insane to focus on a fight for long. But Zephyr still had reason to worry.

While lost in her thoughts, Zephyr didn't realize where she was walking and bumped into a wall. She swore under her breath and looked up while clutching her aching head. She was back at her apartment and she pulled her jacket closer. As she came to her door and unlocked it, she stopped and put her head against the door for a moment then went inside. She just started to read a book to take her mind off things. She couldn't concentrate and fell asleep. Unfortunately, she didn't have a dream….so she didn't know if NiGHTS was alright….

She woke up to hear knocking on her door, loud knocking at that. She grunted and groggily got up and opened the door to get tackled by two familiar teens who looked like clones.

"ZEPHYR!!" Two voices chimed simultaneously while their owners pulled her into a hug.

"Yes, me, what?" Zephyr said bewildered at the wake-up call.

"You're alive! I mean, you're not missing, I mean…" His twin cut off Alex finishing for him.

"You were gone all day Sunday and Monday!" Andrew said while he and Alex were still squishing Zephyr with their double-impact hug.

"Not…..BREATHING!" She choked out and the boys immediately let go. Zephyr panted with a hand on her chest and she straightened up. "So, what's this about me being missing? I couldn't find you guys on Sunday." She said bluntly.

Alex and Andrew started to move in perfect unison, both wagging a finger at her. Today both of their hair was just blonde and they both had their original brown eyes and both had glasses on, so it looked like one was next to a mirror.

"True, but what about Monday, huh? We knocked on your door practically all day!" They both said, sounding like the same person

Zephyr stuttered, not being able to find a good lie…..she was bad at it anyways….but how in the world was she supposed to explain to her two best friends that she had spent the day with a dream creature that someone can only see in their sleep and got attacked by a maniac with razor cards?

Much to her relief, Alex and Andy dropped the subject telling her a package arrived for her. Zephyr opened it and saw that it was from her aunt that she hadn't seen in a long time….or heard from at that matter. She read the letter first:

"Dear Zephyr,

I'm sorry I haven't been in touch with you for a couple years. So much has been going on and whenever I wrote a letter to you from my home, it was lost in the mail. But, right now I'm in Venice, and I hope I got this package to you. I know you most likely aren't fond of this kind of thing, but isn't a carnival coming to Twinseeds? I figure that you should at least look nice for the fireworks on the first day. If not, I'm sure you'll find SOMETHING to wear it for.

With love,

Aunt Aggie

P.S. You're uncle sends his love as well."

Zephyr looked in the box and unwrapped the tissue paper to reveal a red spaghetti strap dress that looked like it stopped one inch above her knees. Her aunt was right…at first Zephyr kind of regretted opening the package, but figured that she could do something with it. Calmly folded the dress and looked at the twins.

"Okay, why are you two REALLY here?" She asked skeptically. Alex and Andy looked at eachother and sighed in defeat. 

"We can't come with you to the fair…." They said at the same time, than Alex started on his own.

"Uhm….ya see….we kinda got dates when you were gone…" He said nervously as if expecting it would trigger a bomb.

ZZephyr stood there unblinking for a few moments, and the boys were afraid she'd explode. But she didn't. Instead, she calmly folded the dress and draped it on her arm and replied in a slightly disturbing tone of understanding.

"I'm happy for you two. Now if you excuse me, I'm out of milk." She said and after draping the dress over the back of a chair walked out the door and slammed it behind her.

Alex and Andy looked at eachother and sighed, "Yep, she's ticked." They said in unison and left as well to get ready for their dates.

**Sorry it's a little boring, guys. But I really am starting to get some writers and just thank the Big Guy that I remembered this seeing as I thought it up during school and am getting a little sick…..R&R!!**


	6. Why Do I have No Titles For You Guys?

**HIIIIIII AGAIN!! YAY you didn't have to wait five months for this chapter! YAY! claps**

**NiGHTS: Riiiiight, she'll be updating more often since she's going to get another story for me out when this one's done and it stars - OW!**

**Me: DON'T GIVE IT AWAY!!!! **

**NiGHTS: Aw…okay….**

**Me: Good 'Maren…anywho, like he said, I'm gonna TRY and update more than once tonight. And I'll update every weekend hopefully since I have high school to worry about…Well, I own only Zephyr, Alex, Andy, and any other characters who none are familiar with. ENJOY!!**

Zephyr came home from getting "groceries", even though she really just went on a walk. She lingered in the park and listened to what she could. While sitting on a bench she looked at her lap and just thought about things she had been though and what waited for her in the future. The park was always the best place for her to think, it just seemed more natural.

"Hmm….man, I don't really have any talent good enough for a job, do I? And I have to pay the rent…" She mumbled. And let her head fall back.

She could see her hair and lifted her head back up and took her ponytail in one hand, "I think I'll go get a hair cut…" She said and left to the park and into town.

It was sundown and almost time for the festival fireworks. Zephyr was sprinting home and she stopped for a breath by a tree, her chest was heaving and her mouth was dry. Now her hair was just shy of her shoulders and had a feathered look to it. She gave what was cut to Locks for Love since she hated wasting things. Zephyr started running again and by the time she got home her legs felt like goop.

She stumbled up to her apartment and took a quick shower. After that, she was in a robe and looked through some scrap cloth that she kept over the years in case anything needed fixing. Zephyr found some good fabric and locked herself in her room and went to work.

First, she turned the dress into a shirt and by mistake it showed her stomach. Then, with a thin section of the bottom half and an old white leather strap made a bracelet with the cloth weaving though the holes she made. She stood up and looked at the outfit laid out on the bed and grinned.

"Perfect!" She said and got dressed.

Alex and Andy were waiting in front of the complex impatiently. They were just about to leave when they both were tackled and brought into a hug.

"Hi, guys!" Zephyr said with both her arms hooked around their necks and they had to stoop down a little in order to reach her level. Alex and Andy were a little surprised and at first didn't even know who had tackled them. It took them a few seconds but they finally realized that Zephyr had completely changed her look.

"What the heck? Zephyr, why'd you go and ruin a perfectly good dress?" Andy said, she did this all the time but normally she'd wait a week…

Zephyr stood back and crossed her arms. "You know I don't wear dresses…besides…I like this better…" She pouted playfully and grinned. She also had a section of the dress tied around her neck as an ascot, and had a red belt over white jeans as well as flip-flops. Later (if she found a nice grassy spot) she'd take the shoes off and just lie in the grass.

Together, the three of them walked to the carnival joking and laughing…at least until Alex and Andy had to go meet their dates. So, Zephyr decided to walk around on her own. She rode a couple rides, had some ice cream, even played a game, but she still felt a little bored. She sat on a bench while staring at the little stuffed dog she won at the game she played. It was a consolation prize for second place, but she wasn't all that good at the game anyhow.

She fiddled with its ears and she heaved a sigh. It was a little boring being at a big event like this but with no one to share it with. Snapped out of her thoughts by a loud boom, Zephyr looked around and saw that the fireworks had started. The dazzling display of light and color reminded her of NiGHTS and she became concerned even more for his welfare. She bit her lip and stood up from the bench as she tossed the little dog to the side.

The streets of Twinseeds were silent and the light haze of the night air created an eerie atmosphere. Streetlamps even made it worse by highlighting the haze and they were dim. It seemed oddly cold and the silence seemed to create a ring that would drive a man insane, only being broken by the occasional rattle of a trash can or pitter-pat of a stray pet.

This all made the walk home even lonelier to Zephyr as she walked down the streets alone, hugging her arms in an attempt to stay warm. Her teeth chattered, nose seemed to feel like ice, and her eyes watered from a light breeze. All she needed was a short walk to get her mind away from the dream world that she felt so at home in. The booms from the fireworks were lost and she stopped in her tracks. There was something there with her, but she didn't know what. Zephyr ignored the feeling and continued her walk home.

As soon as she got inside she went straight to her room and changed into her night wear. This consisted of a white spaghetti strap and grey shorts. As soon as that was over with and after eating dinner she went into her room and flopped on her bed. She turned her head to watch the fireworks finale and she decided to open the window for this even. She stuck her head and torso out of the window as she watched the display from afar. The show ended with a bang and Zephyr smiled as the final embers flickered away from sight. Just as she was about to retreat back to her room, there was a crash down below and her curiosity got the best of her.

Getting down via fire escape she searched around the area only to find nothing there, other than an overturned trashcan. Zephyr sighed and brought the thing upright an she climbed back up to her room. As soon as she got back there was a rapping coming from the living room.

"When will it end?" Zephyr grumbled and she walked out of her room. The sliding glass door that led to the small balcony was open and she curtains were fluttering a little from the breeze. Zephyr tilted her head to the side thinking that he made sure to lock those doors.

She was just about to close the doors again when something caught her eye. Again curiosity took control and she stepped out despite the air being slightly chilly. Closing the door behind her she could see the stars glimmering in the sky, despite the city lights. Zephyr stepped out farther onto the balcony and leaned over the rail a little. After looking for whatever might have caused the noise she found nothing and stepped back. Just as her hand was about to touch the handle again, there was a small pat that was almost inaudible. Slowly, Zephyr turned her head to see none other than the purple jester standing on the railing with no trouble and he was smiling down at her.

Zephyr couldn't believe her eyes, and was speechless to boot. The only thing she could do was let out a small squeal of delight as she leapt up and hugged NiGHTS tight. He hugged her back and after a moment or two they let go and Zephyr was back on the ground. NiGHTS bowed formally and when he rose slightly he held out his hand. Zephyr smiled for a sec but it faded as she looked at the open hand, then at the NiGHTS, the door behind her and back at the hand. Slowly she placed her hand in the 'Maren's and he sped off in flight with Zephyr getting dragged along behind.

She shook her head to get rid of the shock from the sudden change from land to sky and she looked around at the city below as it sped by. She smiled broad as she watched the streetlights flash under her and she looked up at NiGHTS who had been watching her reactions the whole time and he was flying backwards.

Zephyr shook her head, "You show-off" She laughed and NiGHTS smiled.

"Oh come on! Is it a crime to have fun?" He said and Zephyr shook her head. NiGHTS smiled and started to fly forwards again and focused on the sky ahead.

Zephyr was looking at all the sights and was trying to take it all in. NiGHTS took a small glance back and smiled then flew faster.

"NiGHTS, where are we going?" Zephyr said raising her voice over the wind. NiGHTS looked back and wagged a finger at her.

"Ah ah ah, we don't want to spoil the surprise now do we?" He said in a taunting tone. Zephyr pouted slightly but got over it and just looked around. NiGHTS chuckled and he looked forward again.

An eternity of waiting seemed to pass and Zephyr was getting impatient and she got an idea. She slowly let her hand slip out of NiGHTS' and he kinda freaked out at this. The jester did some kind of fancy turn and sped back over to Zephyr and caught her in his arms.

"What do you think you're doing?!" NiGHTS asked in a frantic tone as he continued to fly where he intended, wherever that was.

"What? I'm getting impatient." Zephyr said innocently and NiGHTS heaved a sigh.

"Just, hold on. We're almost there." He said and Zephyr shrugged.

**DONE! Heeheeeee…..cliffy…..oh and I'm planning to re-write this story and/or make a comic/manga based on the concept, I guess it all depends, ne?**

**NiGHTS: Oh, so all this hard work gone to waste?**

**You make it sound so bad! No, it's not all gone to waste! I'm keeping characters, and basic plot, I'm just switching around the storyline a bit!**

**Jackle: Suuuuuuuurrrrre….**

**WHAT/sigh/ Nevermind…but still, like I said I'm re-writing all this and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE IF YOU WANT TO READ IT EITHER PUT ME ON YOUR AUTHOR ALERT UNTIL I GET THE FIRST CHAPTER OR CHECK!! The new story(assuming I really want to)will be out later today. I'll keep this one up for a while so you can compare if that's what you want. But still…..ADIOS FOR NOW!! AU REVIOR! SALUT!**

**NiGHTS: Oh, NOOOOOOOW you get serious about French class….**

**No respect…..**


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